Our Environmental Crisis Has More Than One Dimension

by Earth.Org, 27/02/2019

Humans are upending the delicate balance of ecosystems in more than one way. A new report explores our unhealthy relationship with nature and unpacks the consequences.

Rising temperatures and global
warming have been in the news for a while and are well-supported by scientific
evidence. Global atmospheric CO2 concentration exceeded 400ppm, the highest in
human history and for the past
5 million years. Despite plateauing in the early 21st
century, methane emissions have been on
the rise since 2014 at rates not observed since the 1980s. The past four
years have consequently been the
warmest years on record.

What is far less known and
publicised is the interaction between climate change and other man-derived
environmental changes. A new, report – ‘Facing Up to the Age of Environmental
Breakdown’– by the London-based
Institute for Public Policy Research, is among the first meta-studies to
consider the risks of interplay between multiple environmental threats in destabilizing
human society and socioeconomic systems.

The age of ‘environmental breakdown’ is characterised by the immense scale and severity of human impacts on the environment that extend beyond the dimension of climate change.

These
environmental changes do not exist in isolation but instead interact with each other in
complex, non-linear ways. Climate change serves to further destabilise the
system by global changes in temperature, rainfall patterns and
extreme events. Exceeding certain tipping
points and biophysical thresholds would have catastrophic
consequences. These interactions cascade into human society and amplify
existing social and economic problems and risks global political and financial
shocks.

Societal impacts range from heightened income inequality to forced migration with the rise of environmental refugees, increased conflict over scarce resources and declining human health and malnutrition.

In spite of the alarming
statistics, the IPPR report concludes that the politicians and policies of the
past decade have failed to provide adequate solutions to match the scale of the
environmental destruction.

To effectively tackle what is
surely the challenge of our generation, the paper envisages a fundamental
rethink of existing social, economic and justice systems. Societies should strive
for a ‘sustainable and just’ future by strengthening their resilience in order
to cope with the age of environmental breakdown. A ‘shift in understanding’ is
required.

Policies in recent years like
the Climate Change Act in the United Kingdom, restoration of natural systems
and deployment of renewable technology have the potential to be transformative,
but progress has been slow. Climate action has been further hampered by rising
populism, vested interests coupled with rigid and inflexible mechanisms for
global decision-making.

The findings of this report echo
recent debates over the Anthropocene. The
Anthropocene is a proposed geological epoch in which human activity rivals that
of natural geological processes in reshaping the Earth’s landscape. Prof. Simon
Lewis, Professor of Global Change Science and researcher of the Anthropocene at
University College London, suggested that ‘to usher in a new way of living, today’s core dynamic of
ever-greater production and consumption of goods and resources must also be
broken, coupled with a societal focus on environmental repair.’

Figure 3 No country in the world have managed to develop within environmental limits while achieving high social development

The recent proposal of a Green
New Deal (GND) in the United States attracted significant debate. It is a prime
example of transformative policies that links environmental degradation with
human society and considers the impacts of human activity beyond climate
change. The GND does not only aim to cut carbon emissions by increasing uptake
of renewable energy. It also pledges an all-encompassing social rethink: creating
green jobs, raising the minimum wage, establishing universal healthcare; all
backed by strong government intervenction in the economy. Similar proposals
have recently been released by the Labour Party, the official opposition in the
UK Parliament, in what was termed ‘The
Green Transformation’.

Profound changes are needed
in order for humans to live within sustainable limits. Widespread public concern
and the naissance of youth
climate strikes may be the catalyst for long overdue bold and
transformative policies.